What If Avalanche had Joined The X Men?
by turbomagnus
Summary: :What If?: A look at how the Evolution universe might have turned out if Kitty hadn't been the only one to join the Institute in The X Impulse
1. The X Impulse

Disclaimer: X-Men: Evolution and Marvel's What If? I don't own, so the ideas I come up with based on them are stuck being fanfics instead of episodes and/or issues.

Author's Opening Notes: If you read my other story, "What if Batman and Superman were Brothers?", then you have an idea what to expect. If not, expect confusion, expect angst, expect sappy romance, expect one liners and strange relationships, both friendships and romantic ones, in other words... a typical Turbo fic.

* * *

"What If Avalanche Had Joined The X-Men?"  
By J.T. Magnus, "Turbo"

* * *

"Magneto, Sir, I'd like to try."

The Master of Magnetism nodded regally and stepped back so that the leader of his Brotherhood of Mutants could enter the cell. Wanda Maximoff was throwing her mutant hexbolts wildly inside, which caused the other, less confident members to keep their distance, including her own brother Pietro.

"You might want to cool it with those. If one of them knocks off my glasses," Scott Summers tilted them downward, letting a slight glimmer of the ruby red energy hidden behind them be seen, "The results won't be good. You're not the only one who can't control their powers you know."

"But it wasn't YOUR FATHER who did it to you!"

Scott shook his head, "No, it happened because of a plane crash that my father died in."

He walked past her and sat down on her cot, "But we are the same; Neither of us can control our powers, both of us betrayed by a father-figure, both of us supplanted in their respect by another... If anyone can understand you, Wanda, I can... I don't need to be a doctor or a telepath... I've been there."

Watching through the door, Magneto was surprised when his daughter calmed down and took a seat herself, albeit away from Cyclops, and listened to his story.

* * *

Again, we look upon another reality where events occur differently than in that which we are familar with. As I once showed you a world where Kal-El, son of Jor-El was raised as Clark Wayne, I now show you a world where the events that led Kitty Pryde to the X-Men also led another mutant to them, one Lance Alvers, who, in another world, would become a member of the Brotherhood of Mutants.

* * *

"Like, any mutant?"

"Yes, Ms. Pryde, any mutant who wishes to attend the Institute may..."

"If... Then... Wait here!"

On a hillside overlooking what had once been his high school, Lance looked at his hands, then at the devastation he had caused.

"Lance! Lance!"

His head jerked left and right, trying to find a place to hide from the girl calling his name, the girl he had fallen in love with and almost killed.

"Lance, WAIT! I'm sorry!"

That caused him to stop, SHE was sorry? For what?

The brunette seemed to fly the last few feet as she threw her arms around his neck, "I, like, should have listened to you... Believed you when you said you couldn't control it."

Lance let his arms come to rest around her waist, "...Really?"

Kitty nodded in the direction she had come running from, "This bald guy has a school for kids like us, kids with powers... You're not the only one who can't control theirs. He wants me to join it."

He looked downward, "What did you say?"

"I asked if he really meant anyone like us."

Lance's eyes shot back up and locked with Kitty's.

"I want to try it, but... Like, I want you to come with me."

From the side, a third voice joined their conversation.

"And set yourself apart from humans, cower before their powerless selves, be weak and pray for the scraps from their tables like common dogs, hoping that one day they'll change their minds? You saw how quickly your own 'friends' turned against you because of your powers."

Although Lance didn't see them, he could feel Kitty tense up in his arms and released her, turning to face the new person, "What do you want?"

"Simply to give you a choice in the matter. You're no fool, you know that when you want something in this world, you have to take it. I'm offering you a chance to take your rightful place as one of the rulers of the world."

The blue-skinned woman's words reminded Lance of all the problems he had faced and for a second, Kitty thought she had lost him as he looked to the ground and closed his eyes.

"Come with me, Alvers, fulfill your destiny."

"Lance..."

"Power can be yours, take it!"

"Lance, you're better than that..."

Better than that, he thought, she thought he was better than that... Now he knew what to do.

He looked up and glared at Mystique, "I've worked for it this far, I can work a little more! I never thought I'd find anyone who could understand me, then I found Kitty, and now a school that actually WANTS me to attend! If they say it can happen, I'm willing to work and wait for it."

"And you actually believe them, my young avalanche?"

"Avalanche THIS!"

Ignoring his headache, Lance focused and swung his fist towards Mystique, feeling the earth react as if a herd of elephants were stampeding in her direction, shaking and cracking.

"If that's what you want, then you'll fall like the rest of Xavier's fools!" Mystique shouted before she shapeshifted into a bird and flew away, leaving Lance to collapse from the strain of using his power again so soon.

"Lance..." Kitty whispered, kneeling beside him, "Thank you..."

* * *

Days later, at the Xavier Institute in Bayville, New York, as he was being introduced to the other students and staff, Lance was doing something he rarely did, he was being respectful to Professor Charles Xavier, after all, the man had given him a new chance at life.

"Thanks again, Professor... Though I can't say I'm really surprised that they'd jump at the chance to get rid of me so fast."

The wheelchair-bound telepath nodded, "Think nothing of it, Lance. In truth, it is I who should be thanking you for choosing to come here."

Lance shook his head, "Truth is all she said was the same thing I heard every time I fell in with a new gang. Really, we should both be thanking Kitty. If she hadn't come back for me, we'd probably be on different sides right now."

"True. Tell me, have you decided on a codename?"

"Mystique called me an 'avalanche'. Makes sense, I make the ground shake and things fall. I was thinking about using that."

"Welcome to the X-Men, Avalanche. This is Ororo Munroe, 'Storm',"

"Greetings," The weather-controller added.

"Logan, whom we call Wolverine."

"Hey, kid," Logan nodded, extending his claws.

Lance looked at the claws, then at Logan's jacket, "Nice leather"

"Heh, I like this kid, Charlie," the Canadian said with a half-grin.

"Scott Summers, the team's leader in the field."

"Cyclops," Scott said simply by way of introduction.

"Jean Grey, whom like me possesses great mental abilities."

Jean put out her hand for Lance to shake, "Don't worry, I try to stay out of people's minds."

The lighthearted remark put him at easy and he quipped, "Probably a good idea in my case, you might get lost it's so empty."

"Kurt Wagner, who goes by Nightcrawler."

"Isn't it a bit warm for a fur coat?"

Kurt groaned, "If you only KNEW how often I got that, mein freund."

"Plus he smells worse than my smokes," Logan added.

"Huh?"

"I teleport," Kurt explained, "It has a side-effect."

"What he means," Logan said, "is that he stinks like brimstone afterwards."

Lance chuckled, "I think I'm gonna like it here."

"And you already know Kitty Pryde, if I recall?" Xavier asked, smiling.

"I think I HAVE met her," Lance acknowledged, "So what are you calling yourself?"

"Well, I thought about Sprite... then changed my mind."

"Yeah, naming yourself after a soft-drink wouldn't exactly help you be taken seriously, huh?"

Kitty rolled her eyes, "Then I decided on 'Shadowcat.'"

He couldn't help himself, "Meow, meow."

Lance's joke caused everyone to laugh.

...Almost everyone. Off to one side, Scott was quietly glaring at Lance.

* * *

"That was his first day at the Institute. I didn't know why then, but I didn't like him immediately."

Wanda looked at him, "Do you know now?"

"Yeah, he was a threat."


	2. Turn of the Cyclops

Disclaimer: X-Men: Evolution and Marvel's What If? I don't own, so the ideas I come up with based on them are stuck being fanfics instead of episodes and/or issues.

Author's Opening Notes: The majority of this part was inspired, mainly by the "A What If? X-Men Wedding Album"'s second part, 'What If Jean Grey and Scott Summers had never fallen in love?', so I have to give extra credit to Marvel from whom I borrowed traces of plot and dialouge.

I should also note that this story will be mainly based on the first season of Evo for the moment, hence Wanda's presence earlier in the timeline than the events of HeX Factor.

* * *

"What If Avalanche Had Joined The X-Men?"  
'Part Two: Turn of The Cyclops'  
By J.T. Magnus, "Turbo"

* * *

"A threat?"

"Almost from the moment he walked into the room, he had bonded with everyone in there, Xavier was taking a personal interest in him while by that time it was usually just 'Well done, Scott' for me."

He paused, "The only thing I ever really learned from Xavier is why I need to wear these," he gestured to his glasses made of Ruby Quartz, "My father threw me and my brother out of the plane with the only parachute there was when he realized there was nothing he could do to stop the crash. Alex... I don't know what happened to him, but I lost my grip on the chute and ended up in a freefall until I hit the ground. The impact and resulting concussion caused brain damage that made me lose the ability to control my eyebeams. The last thing I remember seeing, the last thing I ever saw normally, was the ground rushing up at me... That's what it was like then, I could see the ground rushing up at me and all I could do was wait for the impact..."

* * *

Where in what you know as the 'normal' way events happened, Mystique's shapeshifting into the forms of various X-Men led Rogue to join the Brotherhood, in this reality a quick-thinking Lance used his own power to prove which of the two appearant Lances was the real one and convinced her to join them instead. Not long after, Lance's ability to move the earth cost the Blob his advantage of strength by removing a steady footing. Later, Lance again demonstrated his leadership by challenging Evan Daniels to a skateboard race which, although Lance lost the race, proved to Evan that joining the Institute would not mean he'd have to be anything other than himself.

And each time Lance proved himself capable, Scott felt his position as team leader more and more threatened, causing him to react by focusing more and more on it until...

* * *

"I will be leaving for a time to attend a series of medical conferences, but in my absense, I will be leaving Logan and Ororo in charge of the Institute itself, and Lance?"

The earth-mover drew himself up and looked at Xavier, "Professor?"

"Until my return, I am placing you in command of the X-Men."

As Lance stood in shock at Xavier's words, barely noticing the congratulations from Kitty, Kurt and the others, Scott could hold his emotions in no longer.

"Him? Why not me?"

When he spoke, Xavier looked almost angry, "I had hopes, Scott, that it WOULD be you - but you are too rigid, too driven, to lead effectively. You have no sense of PERSPECTIVE."

"YEAH? Well, I don't NEED you - I don't need ANY OF YOU! I QUIT!"

* * *

Scott had swiftly packed and left the Institute, with no thought of where to go, only a burning need to escape. A need that had him walking the streets of Bayville when...

"Cyclops!"

"What? Behind me - " Scott turned around to see, "Mystique and Quicksilver! If you've come to attack..."

Mystique raised her hand to stop him, "You have nothing to fear from us, Cyclops, we are not here to fight with you. You are a kindred soul - an outsider, misunderstood even by those you thought your friends - an ousider seeking nothing but the justice that mutants deserve..."

"But you want it done right," Quicksilver added, "You've got no patience for an uncommitted bunch of geeks who think about nothing but their own selves!"

"You're... right," Scott admitted, as much to himself as to the two members of the Brotherhood.

"If only the X-Men saw things MY way! I COULD lead them," he continued, "I KNOW it!"

From the shadows another voice came, "Forget them, Cyclops. Join me, and you will be given carte blanche to shape the Brotherhood into a force so strong the triumph of the mutant cause will be assured."

"I... I..." Scott stuttered as an arm clad in black and red extended from the shadows and held out its hand.

"...I'll do it!" Cyclops shook the hand and sold his soul...

* * *

In another world, similar events would happen to a very different team of X-Men because Jean Grey fell in love with Warren Worthington the third, the 'Angel', instead of Cyclops. Perhaps in this world, if Ms. Grey had been dating Cyclops instead of Duncan Matthews at the time, these events and those that followed would have been avoided, but, that is a story of another world, is it not?

And we have yet to finish this one...

* * *

Two days later, at Bayville High...

"Ha-ha! Forget it, Daniels, you'll never catch me!" Quicksilver commented as he ran through the parking lot, Evan following behind on his skateboard.

"I can try, Pietro!"

A beam of red energy shot out of nowhere, shattering Evan's skateboard and causing him to crash into the pavement.

"Consider this a warning, Spyke," Cyclops said, stepping out from behind a car, with similar actions being taken by Toad and Blob, "Leave my teammates alone, or the next time I won't be aiming at your skateboard."

With that, the Brotherhood formed up and walked off, leading Kurt to teleport over to Evan.

"Was that... Scott? With the Brotherhood?"

"It sure looked like it, Kurt," Evan picked up the pieces of his skateboard, "It sure looks like it."

Later, in another location, far from Bayville, Magneto nodded as he listened to Cyclops' report of the day's incidents of harassment, both of and by the X-Men. Under Cyclops' leadership, the Brotherhood had not only managed to come out the victors in several of the situations, but also make the X-Men look like the aggressors without putting the Brotherhood at risk.

"Well done, Cyclops, you truely are the choice leader of the Brotherhood."

"Thank you, Lord Magneto," Cyclops replied over the phone.

Magneto turned around to look at a picture sitting nearby, "One other thing, there is a mutant I wish to bring into the Brotherhood. You will gather the others and have them ready for my arrival."

"You're coming here, sir?"

"Is there a problem with that?"

"No sir, I simply thought you would prefer to stay away from Xavier..."

"I have my own ways of dealing with Charles, Cyclops, you simply have my troops ready!"

"Yes, Lord Magneto," Cyclops answered before Magneto ended the call.

Turning back to the picture, Magneto knitted his fingers together, "Soon, my daughter, soon..."

* * *

"Magneto, Sir, I'd like to try."

The Master of Magnetism nodded regally and stepped back so that the leader of his Brotherhood of Mutants could enter the cell. Wanda Maximoff was throwing her mutant hexbolts wildly inside, which caused the other, less confident members to keep their distance, including her own brother Pietro.

"You might want to cool it with those. If one of them knocks off my glasses," Cyclops tilted them downward, letting a slight glimmer of the ruby red energy hidden behind them be seen, "The results won't be good. You're not the only one who can't control their powers you know."

"But it wasn't YOUR FATHER who did it to you!"

Cyclops shook his head, "No, it happened because of a plane crash that my father died in."

He walked past her and sat down on her cot, "But we are the same; Neither of us can control our powers, both of us betrayed by a father-figure, both of us supplanted in their respect by another... If anyone can understand you, Wanda, I can... I don't need to be a doctor or a telepath... I've been there."

Watching through the door, Magneto was surprised when his daughter calmed down and took a seat herself, albeit away from Cyclops, and listened to his story. When Cyclops had finished, Wanda was looking at him and acting calmer than Magneto had seen since he had originally tried to help her strengthen her powers.

"Help me get revenge on Xavier," Cyclops told her, "And I'll help you."

Wanda looked at him for a moment, "Take off your glasses."

"I told you, I-"

"Take them off!"

Closing his eyes, Cyclops did as he was asked while the other Brotherhood members moved back even farther. Rasing a hand to his face, Wanda released a hexbolt.

"Now, open your eyes."

This time, Cyclops didn't try to protest, simply doing as she had said. When he opened them, he was surprised, he wasn't destroying anything... and the first thing he saw normally in almost twelve years was a girl.

"Your eyes are blue..." Wanda whispered, looking into them.

Nodding, Wanda stood up, "Let's go."

Cyclops put his glasses back on and followed, escorting her out the door.

Looking around a corner, Pietro stuttered, "H-hi, Wanda."

With a disdainful look, Wanda scoffed, "I'm not going to kill you, Pietro. You're not worth the effort."

Cyclops turned to look at her, surprised, "You know Pietro?"

Wanda nodded, "He's my brother... I got all the brains, though."

"That's right, I got all the look-HEY!"

"See what I mean?" She waved a hand toward the speedster.

When the two of them reached where Magneto stood, Cyclops had to take a step back, he could feel the force of energy between Wanda and his leader.

"Wanda," Magneto said, barely acknowledging Cyclops, "Welcome to my Brotherhood of Mutants."

"Wrong."

"What did you say?"

"Wrong. I'm not joining your Brotherhood of Mutants, FATHER, I'm joining Scott, he just happens to be part of your 'Brotherhood'."

The two faced-off for several minutes, during which Cyclops turned to Quicksilver.

"Wait... If she's your sister, and Magneto's her father, then that means..."

The silver-haired teen shrugged at the guy who had quickly become his friend, "Hey, I told you my father expected a lot out of me."

Finally, the standstill between father and daughter was broken.

"Very well. Cyclops."

Cyclops took a step forward, "Yes, Lord Magneto?"

"I am trusting my daughter to you. Do not fail me."

"Yes, Lord Magneto."

With a swirl of his cape, the master of magnetism marched off.

"How can you stand doing that?" Wanda asked Cyclops.

"Simple," He answered, looking at Magneto's retreating form, "I said I would lead the Brotherhood to victory..."

The other three members looked at their leader and new ally as he continued.

"...But that doesn't mean Magneto will be there for it."


End file.
